1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip feeder which transports a tape having a row of a multiplicity of chiplike electronic parts retained thereon from a tape supply section to a chip takeout section along a guide path.
2. Related Art Statement
A tape which is employed in a chip feeder of the type described above is generally arranged as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. More specifically, a multiplicity of chips 3 are disposed in a row on a tape body 2, and the surface of this tape body 2 is covered with a protective cover 4 to form a tape 1 which is then reeled and stored in this state.
The reeled tape 1 is loaded on the feeder in which it is intermittently transported from the tape supply section to the chip takeout section by means of traction applied thereto through perforations 5 provided along one lateral edge thereof. At the chip takeout section, the protective cover 4 is separated from the surface of the tape 1 and the chips 3 are removed from the tape body 2 one by one and fed onto a printed-wiring board or the like.
However, as will be clear from FIGS. 11, 13(a) and 13(b), the tapes 1 differ from each other in terms of the tape width and the chip disposition pitch in accordance with the width and length of chips 3. Accordingly, it is conventional practice to prepare feeders which respectively conform to tapes 1 which differ from each other in terms of the width and pitch of chips 3 and use them selectively. Thus, it is inconveniently necessary to provide a large number of different kinds of feeders, and this costs a great deal.